Trip to San Antonio

We made our first trip back to San Antonio since moving to California. We had a great time catching up with family, friends, past co-workers, and our former neighbors!

We had a fabulous lunch at The Granary 'Cue & Brew at The Pearl. If you live in or visit the San Antonio area, then you need to try this restaurant! You cannot go wrong with barbecue and beer (or root beer in my case), and all of the food and beverages here are very high quality with distinctive flavors. After lunch we had a nice walk on the Museum Reach section of the Riverwalk, including watching the Lock and Dam in action.


One of our former neighbors moved closer to Downtown and is raising 3 chickens in his back yard. Alex enjoyed meeting the chickens and holding Shiloh.


I had planned to make a trip back to San Antonio sooner, but at least I did not forget how to get to my friends' houses. The boys had fun playing and I was so happy to meet sweet Baby B. Alex conquered the smaller pole at the playground:


Overall, our travels went smoothly. The better deal was to fly from San Francisco to Austin. Alex wrote his name with some coaching while we waited to board our plane. In the middle of our trip back to Cali, he got in a good nap.

It was a great vacation and now we are back to our work and school routines.

Christmas

Alex woke up on Christmas morning and immediately tore into one of his presents from Grandma Mickey. There was a look of sheer delight and he jumped when he saw the presents under the Christmas tree. He managed to wait to open the rest of the gifts until my parents came over. We ate our almost-burnt cinnamon rolls while we waited. Santa Claus brought Alex his own digital camera so that we would stop trying to use mine. John recently got an iPhone, so both boys took lots of pictures on Christmas.

Alex wanted to play with each gift as he opened them. At the end, the area was a mess, but we all had a good time. Alex was in miss matched pajamas since he woke up with a wet diaper.

We skyped with my brother and then had lunch at Rudy's. My parents have been the last two years on Christmas, so now it is a tradition. You know that you are in Texas when you can get barbecue on Christmas.

Alex enjoyed playing with his toys and one of John's new co-workers sent Alex a gift. We watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (while Alex watched cartoons). John was able to skype with his family later in the day. We enjoyed this Christmas in San Antonio and we'll see where we are next Christmas!

Christmas Lights

We made it downtown earlier this month to see the Christmas Lights on the Riverwalk and the San Antonio Christmas tree. I love the new LED lights, and Alex loves Christmas lights in general this year. We had dinner at Schilo's and I took a picture of another favorite restaurant, Casa Rio.

UTSA Football: Still Undefeated!

When I started working at the University of Texas at San Antonio seven years ago, I saw a funny t-shirt in the campus bookstore. It said, "UTSA Football" on the front and "Still Undefeated" on the back. At that time, UTSA Football was only an idea that people talked about and thought, "maybe someday."

The day was today and the bar was set high. The university hired a well-known head coach and will join the Western Athletic Conference in 2012. There was no need to build an on-campus stadium since we have the Alamodome in town, but the dome is huge. (It holds 65,000 people.) Even though the first season does not include well known teams, it would be difficult to win with a team made up of so many freshmen and sophomores.

Today UTSA made history and exceeded expectations! UTSA set a new record for NCAA inaugural football game attendance by packing the Alamodome with 56,743 people. UTSA beat Northeastern State (Coach Coker's alma mater) 31-3.

We had a blast today at the game! Alex did well with the crowds and noise. He was sad to leave the game and was asleep in the car as soon as we hit I-10 on the way home.

UTSA Football is still undefeated! Go Roadrunners!

Saturday

We had a fun Saturday with an impromptu trip Downtown. First, Alex wanted to explore the kitchen, and he likes to get his stool and says "high up."

We learned about Dinosaur Quest and headed Downtown to check it out. Alex had a blast running around and wanted to ride the dinosaur models...

We headed to Schilo's for lunch, which was very yummy.

Here is a look back at Alex's first trip to Schilo's in May 2009.

10 Things We Love about Living in San Antonio

These are in no particular order.

1. It is a big city with a small city feel.
San Antonio’s growth really took place after the 1968 Hemisfair. The city retains the feel and friendliness of a smaller city. As long as you can avoid rush hour, you can get around the city quickly. During the week, we can get to work in 10 minutes and on the weekends we can be in Downtown or Alamo Heights in 20 minutes.

2. So Many Good Restaurants!
This is not always good for the waistline or pocketbook, but it sure is fun to go out to eat around here.
Favorite Pizza: Rome’s Pizza
Favorite BBQ: Rudy’s
Favorite Deli: Shilo’s
Favorite Tex Mex: I could not pick just one...

3. The city has a unique character.
San Antonio has been influenced by Texas, the South, Mexico and German immigrants. All of this mixes into a culture that I don’t think can be replicated. Where else can you find the Alamo, Riverwalk, and surrounding Hill Country towns?

4. Spring, Fall and Winter
When it is not 100 degrees, the weather here is great.

5. Our Friends
We have made great friends here. They are the friends that you can have fun with who will also be there for you when you need them. We are grateful for the friends we’ve made over the past seven years.

6. Having Family Here
John's sister lived here for a few months and now my parents live here. We’ve tried to persuade more family to move down but no luck so far...

7. We’ve created a home here
We been in our house for five years and have slowly made it our own. (Well, Alex’s stuff quickly took over when he arrived!) It has been satisfying to work on projects including Alex’s room, the garden, and the shed, and we have many more to do. (I’ve torn down about half the wallpaper in the master bathroom...) We have good neighbors and can walk to the swimming pool and playground.

8. Being part of UTSA
I started working at UTSA in 2004, and John was not far behind in 2005. We have both held a couple of positions within the university, but we have been “part of the university” from day one. We have seen the campus continue to grow and change over the past 7 years. We are now watching the University start a football team and have our season tickets.

9. There is so much to do in San Antonio
We have lived here for seven years, and I still have a list of things I want to do here. We still need to visit Sea Word, The Witte Museum, and the Children’s Museum. There are fun annual events including Fiesta San Antonio and the Texas Folklife Festival.

10. There is so much to do just a short drive from San Antonio
There is the Hill Country and Austin within an hour or hour and a half from the city. In a few hours, you can be on the beach.

Fore more "10 Things" posts, visit shimelle.com. Coincidentally, she wrote ten things about her city today.

Zoo

My birthday outing was to the San Antonio Zoo. Alex was 10 months old on his first trip to the zoo in January 2010. This second trip to the zoo was very different since now he can run around and identify many of the animals. We all had fun and plan to go back sooner than later.

Alex & Grandma

Alex and Grandpa

Elephants

Birds in Africa Live

More birds in Africa Live

Zebras

Okapi

Photos taken 6/25/11.